‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Know that people belong to two categories, that is to say, they
constitute two parties. One party deny the spirit, and say that
man also is a species of animal; for they say, do we not see that
animals and men share the same powers and senses? These simple
single elements which fill space are endlessly combined, and from
each of these combinations one of the beings is produced. Among
these beings is the possessor of spirit, of the powers and of the
senses. The more perfect the combination, the nobler is the being.
The combination of the elements in the body of man is more
perfect than the composition of any other being; it is mingled in
absolute equilibrium, therefore it is more noble and more perfect.
“It is not,” they say, “that he has a special power and spirit which
the other animals lack: animals possess sensitive bodies, but man
in some powers has more sensation—although, in what concerns
the outer senses, such as hearing, sight, taste, smell, touch, and
even in some interior powers like memory, the animal is more
richly endowed than man.” “The animal, too,” they say, “has
intelligence and perception”: all that they concede is that man’s
intelligence is greater.

This is what the philosophers of the present state; this is their
saying, this is their supposition, and thus their imagination decrees.
So with powerful arguments and proofs, they make the descent
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of man go back to the animal, and say that there was once a time
when man was an animal; that then the species changed, and
progressed little by little until it reached the present status of man.

But the theologians say: No, this is not so. Though man has
powers and outer senses in common with the animal, yet an extraordinary
power exists in him of which the animal is bereft. The
sciences, arts, inventions, trades, and discoveries of realities, are
the results of this spiritual power. This is a power which encompasses
all things, comprehends their realities, discovers all the
hidden mysteries of beings, and through this knowledge controls
them: it even perceives things which do not exist outwardly; that
is to say, intellectual realities which are not sensible, and which
have no outward existence, because they are invisible; so it comprehends
the mind, the spirit, the qualities, the characters, the
love and sorrow of man, which are intellectual realities. Moreover,
these existing sciences, arts, laws, and endless inventions of man
at one time were invisible, mysterious, and hidden secrets; it is
only the all-encompassing human power which has discovered and
brought them out from the plane of the invisible to the plane of
the visible. So telegraphy, photography, phonography, and all
such inventions and wonderful arts, were at one time hidden mysteries:
the human reality discovered and brought them out from
the plane of the invisible to the plane of the visible. There was
even a time when the qualities of this iron which you see—indeed
of all the metals—were hidden mysteries; men discovered this
metal, and wrought it in this industrial form. It is the same with
all the other discoveries and inventions of man, which are innumerable.

This we cannot deny. If we say that these are effects of powers
which animals also have, and of the powers of the bodily senses,
we see clearly and evidently that the animals are, in regard to
these powers, superior to man. For example, the sight of animals
is much more keen than the sight of man; so also is their power
of smell and taste. Briefly, in the powers which animals and men
have in common, the animal is often the more powerful. For
example, let us take the power of memory: if you carry a pigeon
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from here to a distant country, and there set it free, it will return,
for it remembers the way. Take a dog from here to the center
of Asia, set him free, and he will come back here and never once
lose the road. So it is with the other powers such as hearing, sight,
smell, taste, and touch.

Thus it is clear that if there were not in man a power different
from any of those of the animals, the latter would be superior to
man in inventions and the comprehension of realities. Therefore
it is evident that man has a gift which the animal does not possess.
Now, the animal perceives sensible things, but does not perceive
intellectual realities. For example, that which is within the range
of its vision the animal sees, but that which is beyond the range
of sight it is not possible for it to perceive, and it cannot imagine
it. So it is not possible for the animal to understand that the earth
has the form of a globe. But man from known things proves
unknown things, and discovers unknown truths. For example,
man sees the curve of the horizon, and from this he infers the
roundness of the earth. The Pole Star at ‘Akká, for instance, is
at 33x, that is to say, it is 33x above the horizon. When a man
goes towards the North Pole, the Pole Star rises one degree above
the horizon for each degree of distance that he travels, that is to
say, the altitude of the Pole Star will be 34x, then 40x, then 50x,
then 60x, then 70x. If he reaches the North Pole the altitude of the
Pole Star will be 90x or have attained the zenith, that is to say, will
be directly overhead. This Pole Star and its ascension are sensible
things. The farther one goes towards the Pole, the higher the
Pole Star rises; from these two known truths an unknown thing
has been discovered, that is, that the horizon is curved: meaning
that the horizon of each degree of the earth is a different horizon
from that of another degree. Man perceives this, and proves from
it an invisible thing which is the roundness of the earth. This
it is impossible for the animal to perceive. In the same way it
cannot understand that the sun is the center and that the earth
revolves around it. The animal is the captive of the senses and
bound by them; all that is beyond the senses, the things that they
do not control, the animal can never understand; although in the
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outer senses it is greater than man. Hence it is proved and verified
that in man there is a power of discovery by which he is
distinguished from the animals, and this is the spirit of man.

Praise be to God! man is always turned towards the heights,
and his aspiration is lofty; he always desires to reach a greater
world than the world in which he is, and to mount to a higher
sphere than that in which he is. The love of exaltation is one of
the characteristics of man. I am astonished that certain philosophers
of America and Europe are content to gradually approach
the animal world, and so to go backwards; for the tendency of
existence must be towards exaltation. Nevertheless, if you said
to one of them, You are an animal—he would be extremely hurt
and angry.

What a difference between the human world and the world of
the animal; between the elevation of man and the abasement of
the animal; between the perfection of man and the ignorance of the
animal; between the light of man and the darkness of the animal;
between the glory of man and the degradation of the animal! An
Arab child of ten years can manage two or three hundred camels
in the desert, and with his voice can lead them forward or turn
them back. A weak Hindu can so control a huge elephant, that
the elephant becomes the most obedient of servants. All things
are subdued by the hand of man; he can resist nature, while all
other creatures are captives of nature, none can depart from her
requirements. Man alone can resist nature. Nature attracts bodies
to the center of the earth; man through mechanical means goes
far from it, and soars in the air. Nature prevents man from
crossing the seas, man builds a ship, and he travels and voyages
across the great ocean, and so on; the subject is endless. For example,
man drives engines over the mountains and through the
wildernesses, and gathers in one spot the news of the events of
the East and West. All this is contrary to nature. The sea with
its grandeur cannot deviate by an atom from the laws of nature;
the sun in all its magnificence cannot deviate as much as a needle’s
point from the laws of nature, and can never comprehend the
conditions, the state, the qualities, the movements, and the nature
of man.
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What, then, is the power in this small body of man which encompasses
all this? What is this ruling power by which he subdues
all things?

One more point remains: modern philosophers say: “We have
never seen the spirit in man, and in spite of our researches into
the secrets of the human body, we do not perceive a spiritual
power. How can we imagine a power which is not sensible?” The
theologians reply: “The spirit of the animal also is not sensible,
and through its bodily powers it cannot be perceived. By what
do you prove the existence of the spirit of the animal? There is
no doubt that from its effects you prove that in the animal there
is a power which is not in the plant, and this is the power of the
senses; that is to say, sight, hearing, and also other powers; from
these you infer that there is an animal spirit. In the same way,
from the proofs and signs we have mentioned, we argue that there
is a human spirit. Since in the animal there are signs which are
not in the plant, you say this power of sensation is a property of
the animal spirit; you also see in man signs, powers, and perfections
which do not exist in the animal; therefore you infer that
there is a power in him which the animal is without.”

If we wish to deny everything that is not sensible, then we
must deny the realities which unquestionably exist. For example,
ethereal matter is not sensible, though it has an undoubted existence.
The power of attraction is not sensible, though it certainly
exists. From what do we affirm these existences? From their signs.
Thus this light is the vibration of that ethereal matter, and from
this vibration we infer the existence of ether.